Visas and So Much More

Today is a very blustery day which is refreshing after the past week which was scorching hot. And when I say blustery I mean gloomy and windy. It's still hot. I can still where a t-shirt and shorts the only difference is I am not sweating profusely. Things have been a bit slow around here lately. Since all the foreigners are gone the church has settled back into its normal pace. Ben and I travel around the city in what are called trishaws or three wheelers or tuk tuks. They are basically like covered golfcarts with a larger engine. I am not quite sure how else to describe them. But in the rain they are quite an adventure to drive in. That is for sure!
The most exiting thing that has been going on is the process of trying to renew our visas. In typical Sri Lankan Fashion the process did not begin until less than a week before our visas expire which has made it exciting to say the least. Today, Friday, our passports were taken to immigration with all the appropriate paperwork and denied! Apparently, Since Ben and I signed our old visas on our passports (like we were told to do the last time we visited immigration two months ago) they think that we got the passport stamps illegally and forged them. Great! So since monday is a holiday, Of Course! (since Sri Lanka is the country who acknowledges the most holidays) Ben and I have to go to immigration on Tusday, the day before our visa expires, and try to pursuade them that 1) we did not forge our old visas and 2) ask for an additional visa. Needless to say we need prayer! We already have a flight lined up just in case we need to buy a ticket last minute and fly out of the country. Life here is exciteing to say the least! So we will let you know what happens with our visas or maybe we will just see you! Please also continue to pray for my stomach because I have been having problems with my acid reflex.

Rain Rain Go Away Come Again Another Day!

So we had a visit from the plumber again this week. Our sink was clogged with a month's worth of gunk and we were unable to do dishes for two days only adding to our cockroach problem. The morning of the plumber's visit we opened our kitchen door to find 7 dead cockroaches scattered on the floor and sink. YES I said SEVEN. They had gotten into the white powder we have been putting out to kill the ants. They are still living in our cupboard though so Ben decided to create his own handy dandy cockroach killer trap. He first got a clay jar filled it two inches full with stale beer and water. Dropped two sticks in it and topped it off with a little ant poison. The next day Ben found a cockroach floating in the jar! Ben-1, Cockroaches-0. (Photo for Proof Below)

We are praying the rain will subside soon. Our home is falling apart. New leaks pop up daily. Meanwhile, there is a miniature lake developing on what would be equivalent to a front driveway. Every time it rains, two or three times a day for a couple minutes or less at a time (and when I say rain I mean tropical torrential downpour) these mammoth sized puddles gather around the house (sometimes in the house). It is not our business to despise the much needed monsoon rain but we'd be lying if we said that we didn't ask the Big Guy Upstairs to turn down the waterworks once and a while. No matter though as we have devised a great way to scale across our gate whilst using the momentum of our bodies to close the gate- at the same time delivering us safely onto the other side...of the puddle/lake of course (As you can see Ben displaying above in his awesome rain boots).

Oh and today we visited a hundred and thirty two year old museum with 40 kids under the age of 12. They even had ancient urinals. Fascinating. We love you all! Thanks for Reading!

Coauthored By: Rylee and Benjamin Applebee

Leaks, Cockroaches and a Whole Lotta Laughs

We have had three leaks in one week (and the week is not even over yet). On Monday, Ben heard water leaking from one of the many old rooms in the home we live in. He tried to tighten the knob where the leak was coming from and the knob completely snapped off. Water started pouring out all over the floor and of course we did not know how to turn the water off so we had to run next door to our 95 year old land lady’s home and find out where to turn the water off. We finally turned it off but had to spend a day without water (not that big of a deal) until the local plumber came by. Needless to say it was quite a mess but left both of us laughing.
Our next leak happened on Tuesday. I woke up on Tuesday morning to a dark river flowing from underneath our kitchen cabinets. Ben got the mop and we continued to soak up the dirty water until our friend the plumber arrived again. If that was not enough our fridge has been leaking water all day today....haha. What an adventure it is to live here. So we went from a severe ant problem to a cockroach problem. Each morning I slowly open the kitchen door in anticipation of finding another one of our dead friends. They are huge and so gross. But the dead ones we find laying our kitchen floor are much better than the ones living in our cupboards. Our dishwares are pooped on regularly and we hear and see them running around whenever we open the cupboard doors. I had purchased cockroach traps from the USA and was planning on receiving them from the American team but they were stolen out of Monte’s car the night before they left. I am sure the burglar was not too happy with his booty. He received a bunch of crafts, some cockroach traps, girls’ pants, trail mix and some white cake mix. I am sure he was disappointed. We were disappointed too!
It was so great to see familiar faces. We really enjoyed seeing Monte and his team and we loved working with them. But they were here for such a short time and it was hard to see them go.
Ben and I attended our first Sri Lankan 25 year wedding anniversary. We are sitting and eating dinner when all of a sudden there was a huge boom outside the front door and little sparks started flying through the window. I jumped literally on top of the poor woman sitting next to me and just about gave her a heart attack. I guess it is tradition to set off fireworks for 25 year anniversaries....well they didn’t tell us and I did the drop roll and cover because I thought it was a bomb...anyways it was an adventure to say the least and every single Sri Lankan got a crack out of the way I reacted. I was a bit shook up though!
We miss you all dearly! Please be praying against mosquito born illness because many of them are currently going around. Please also pray for peace in times of fear and a community for Ben and I. Thank you and God Bless!